By Septimus Senessie
Sixty participants including women leaders, traditional authorities, civil society groups, judiciary and journalists over the weekend underwent training in women’s rights to property, land and access to justice.
The training was the second phase of the UNDP-funded project in Kono, Port Loko and Bombali districts and Western Area on the topic: “Women’s Rights to Property, making right a reality,” implemented by COOPI International.
The training came as a widow with five children was allegedly denied a piece of land by some Sandor chiefdom authorities to build a house, a story politico is currently investigating.
Mariama Kabba-Kamanda, the district coordinator of the project said the denial of property to own property, land and access to justice especially in the five mining chiefdoms of Sandor, Nimikoro, Nimiyama, Tankoro and Gbense was still on the increase despite numerous training programmes conducted for traditional authorities in the district.
She said if not stopped the high level of “marginalization, selective justice and intimidation” against women by some traditional authorities and the multinational exploitative companies operating in the country would lead to women taking to the streets "to protest for their God-given rights".
She described as “archaic and outdated” some of the customs and traditions which discriminate against women, saying they had no place in the 21st century.
She assured that they would hire the services of lawyers to defend the rights of marginalised women in their five operational districts in the country and urged journalists and civil society groups to support them achieve their objectives.
Section chief of Dangbaidu Section in Kamara Chiefdom, Aiah Umaru Samuka welcomed the training saying denial of women the right to property and land was still a thorny one. He attributed it on the customs and traditions of the land which he said they were elected to protect.
The mammy queen of Tankoro Chiefdom, Femusu Nyama Saquee said the urban sensitisation of COOPI and other advocacy organisations for women’s rights was not enough, adding “most of these abuses are more prominent in the rural communities than in the urban centres.”
(C) Politico 03/06/14
